I will relate this story to mainly to rugby league as its in my wheel house of understanding along with rugby union. However, this sporting journey can be related to any Australian sport that sees itself as professional.
I will call on solutions like the NCAA in the USA were a young person out of high school may be given a scholarship to a prestigious university/college. Despite them being 6' 10' weighing 210 pounds with a verticle leap that has them in the top 5% of the freshman recruits, they are not allowed to play in front of millions of TV viewers on ESPN unless they reach certain levels in their academic education.
My own adventures in both of the junior rugby codes [union and league] from the age of 10 to 21 when I was cut from Manly Warringah Rugby League Football club, I knew I wasn't good enough or maybe wanted it enough, which is probably closer to the facts. But I have related my personal journey to the plight of many coming in through the system and left with nothing to fall back on when the selectors say "...sorry son, we won't be picking you to play".
At the age of 10 in 1982 I played in my first rugby union rep trials in Manly. I had been playing junior rugby on Saturday mornings for about 5 years. My parents would battle through their week of service in raising a family and take their youngest child to many rugby grounds across the northern beaches of Sydney.
There were no mobile coffee carts 30 years ago to ease the pain of an early start after a 40+ hour week. My sisters would be hauled from their young teenage slumber to watch young Phillip run round a cold rain sodden rugby pitch. That boy was oblivious in the tremendous effort just to get him to that ground.
If the parks were swollen with winter rain, that young buck had to be driven to the ground before he would believe that the game would not be on. His fear that the game would be played without him was real and remains to this day a long lost fear of missing out on the show.
Across Australia in 1982 there were thousands of examples of this young dream being played out. I bet the Italian coffee makers at Vittorio wished they had invented the mobile coffee truck back then.
Now in the 30 years that have past those kids are now parents but the world has changed. As is evolution the world will never stop changing. But we can learn from the past to help the education of our youth.
Whilst that young kid in 1982 who made his first rep team for Manly, got the shiny new team bag and the team tracksuit which he wore with the pride of an African lion, his dream of being a Wallaby and playing on Cardiff Arms Park against JPR Williams had no connection with fame and fortune.
In 2013 there were these same 10 year old kids across Australia will be running around fields in Sydney, Newcastle, Bathurst, Armidale, Brisbane, Mackay, Townsville....
Mum's are still running the show in the background looking after the canteen and Dads are still running up and down the side line yelling instructions into what may as well be thin air.
But it's what happens in the next 5 years that has changed and that is why I am writing this story.
As that young player grows and starts to show potential his vision of what is ahead is more than just a tracksuit and bag. Watching the footy shows and seeing the big boys play every week on TV is like a moth to the light. The attraction is unbreakable and takes place in his life...front and centre.
I will balance this view and ackowledge that there are many parents in-still in their child's life a strong sense of balance and they are very successful in ensuring that the weeks school work must be respected before kick off on Saturday.
The journey of a young Rugby League Player into representative football begins with Harold Matthews competition for Under 16's. So for those aged 15, the rugby league clubs start playing selection trials for these teams in the year before the competition starts.
Clubs will hold open trials to select the best local team. Kids will have also been invited from outside the district to trial. To the local youngsters, the new kids are bigger, they look older and they have a swagger many have not seen before.
Also these trials are generally open to all comers from all sports so you also have young guys coming in from Rugby Union, AFL and even soccer. Yes soccer, it once produced one of the highest point scorers in the National Rugby League. This young man attended the Under 21 trials after playing mostly soccer except for schoolboy rugby league. Within just a few years he was playing in the top grade and has gone on to be a career first grade coach in rugby league.
So as a 15 year old you are already competing with more than just the guys you have played against since you were 6 years old.
Let’s break the number’s down so I can demonstrate that the funnel process has already started at age 15. That’s right...your little man was born in 1998 and by 2013 his hopes of a professional footy career are already under the spotlight and in peril.
Its only been 15 Christmas days in which he may have received his first and maybe 2nd bikes.
He has been in high school just 3 years. He still can't drive yet. His body has not begun to change and now he is playing against other 15 year old's who have already begun turning into men.
Your little man may have the heart of a lion and play like one. These types can and do break the mould. Geoff Toovey the current Manly first grade coach and stood just 5 foot 6 and was the smallest player on the field his whole career and played first grade for a generation and played State of Origin so well he forced an immortal in Andrew Johns to play out of position and he played with enormous pride for his country.
A more current example maybe James O'Connor playing rugby for Australia; whilst he couldn't break into Rugby League for the Bulldogs, I ask any man if he is brave enough to run up the middle of the park against the All Blacks, Springboks and the French when you stand just 5'10 and weight 88kg's.
In the Under 16 age, 2013 competition there are 18 Harold Matthews Cup teams. For the players that get to start the game it means that across all of the state there are only 36 front rowers, 36 second rowers, just 18 hookers, locks, half backs, 5/8s and fullbacks. There are also 36 wingers and centre's but as an old front rower I don't count them as equals !!!!
There are generally 20 players in the squad where only 17 get to the play in the 9 round competition. So even in this top group there are 54 players who don't even to get on the field.
That's only 360 players at the age of 15 who are told they are good enough to wear the same colour's as their hero's. As family's we are all so proud of our growing boys and we follow them across the country to watch their games.
But your child’s path to glory comes at a price. Most teams are training five nights a week six to eight weeks before Christmas. Also your food bill will start to grow so much that you will say "...how can you eat that much?".
This culling and selection process happens for your boy two more times over the next 4 years so by the age of 18 your man has done extremely well to get to a top grade contract.
What’s missing in this journey for many is the alternative option in the very real chance they may not make that 360 player cut every second year. This is has all happened before they are old enough to vote, drink !!! and leave home !!!!!
While this is all going on there are important life factors in education and the ability to contribute to society that are taking backward steps in these kids lives.
The ability to learn is harder then the ability to pass a football.
Approaching fast are many forks in the road for teenage sport loving kids who show the ability to take the next step.
A serious problem in Australia is that there is one decision not forced on these rising stars as they leave high school at 17 and 18 years of age. That is an approved academic education that will provide them a crutch to hold onto should they not be in the top 400 players in the top league.
In the USA their sporting college program falls under the organisation known as the NCAA 'National Athletic Collegiate Association'. http://www.ncaa.org
On their website the describe the eligibility criteria:
The NCAA Eligibility Center verifies the academic and amateur status of all student-athletes who wish to compete in Division I or II athletics.
College-bound student-athletes who want to practice, compete and receive athletically related financial aid during their first year at a Division I or II school need to meet the following requirements:
And to play college sports the student must at a minimum;
- Graduate from high school.
- Complete a minimum of 16 core courses for Division I or 14 core courses for Division II. After August 1, 2013, student-athletes who wish to compete at Division II institutions must complete 16 core courses.
- Earn a minimum required grade-point average in core courses.
- Earn a qualifying test score on either the ACT or SAT.
- Request final amateurism certification from the NCAA Eligibility Center.
This rule came into place after two of the biggest names in basketball and world sport, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James proved themselves to be ready to play without having a proper college education, but it was the many hundreds of failures that required this rule to be written.
There are no such rules in Australian sport and our University structures do not have this historic stepping stone to a sporting career. So while I would like suggest that we begin this path, I am realistic that we are too far gone to get anywhere close to that.
The National Rugby League [NRL] does have guidelines for under 20's that they train in hours that allow then to work of get an education. However, I cannot find any information on what the criteria is.
A few weeks ago we saw the Australian Government wheel out all the sporting CEO's saying that drug abuse was rife across ALL of the sporting codes. These were the professional organisations where the word sport is not at times the primary focus.
Since the beginning of time were there have been professional sporting events there have been people looking to beat the system through drugs and other means so they can gain an advantage. You will never change that unfortunately, it’s in the human DNA of many.
So whilst we do have drugs in sport, the problem that I saw in that press conference was that they were addressing a result of a floored structure.
I want us to educate these young men and women who are racing to glory with blinkers on. They are running so fast that the wind in their eyes is making it too hard for them to see reality.
Why not have had the Ministers of Education standing side by side with the Ministers for Sport and out lay a plan to educate all of these people whose careers are over within the snap of a ligament? Rather than having drug testing authorities and government give us a problem and no solution..
So whilst the universities just are not ready for this type of structure, build back up the Technical and Further Education [TAFE] structures. For example, on Sydney's northern beaches there is the old TAFE at Seaforth which I think has been closed for over 20 years.
Enforce the sporting organisations to present a percentage of their income to developing these structures across the state. They would be sporting agnostic and open their doors to sporting ‘wanna be's’ from across the country.
A teenager can graduate at high school with no minimum mark to play sport. With this new suggested program in place the teenager can obtain the eligibility points required to play sport. Whether it be to top of their points or start a high school certificate again.
Then build these TAFE courses into joint programs of study with the University's.
So in 3 years out of high school a child can be educated and playing professional sport at the same time. Yes it will see less 19 year olds debuting in the top league and some will argue that its a restraint of trade. I would argue that as sporting organisations has a duty of care to their employees for both their education and still developing bodies.
The teenage sportsman can still be signed to a club or in fact to the professional organisation. They can still earn money and also have another job that doesn't effect any salary cap. Of course that could be rorted too but that will be the job of the education system to manage that. Much like the NCAA vigorously rules on breaches of their code in student/player management whilst they are in college.
In this solution to a problem, I am looking to help the players that don't break into the top grades of their chosen sport and those that do. Sporting careers are short and they don’t guarantee an income the day after their contract finishes. Because at 22, 23 or 24 its a long hard road to catch up with your peers who have been learning and working for the last 5 to 6 years.
Help the kids that don't get past the next gate in the ongoing selection process and I believe strongly you will develop a better style of human-being that can contribute to society.
And for those that are good enough to play at the highest level, hold their hands through the bright lights, fame and the un-earned privileges of success. These young adults need as much education on how to treat themselves and those around them as much as those that were told at 14 "...sorry son, we won't be picking you to play".
Phil Jackett
Career 1976 - 2000
Rugby Union Allambie Heights, Forest Killarney, St Pauls High School, Manly Junior age teams, Manly Colts 'First Grade', Manly 'Reserve Grade' , Northern Zone & Sydney City Presidents
Rugby League St Kierans Primary School, Christian Brothers, Beacon Hill, Narraweena, Manly Warringah under 17s, Manly Warringah under 19s, Manly Warringah under 21's, Manly Warringah Reserve Grade, Townsville Brothers 1st grade,
Also baseball, basketball and 3 time premiership winning touch footy for over 35's.
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